First stop - the internet. And a couple of hours later, I just knew I couldn't afford a new one - even though at that point I wasn't sure what type I really wanted or matched my needs - they were all really expensive - anything from £500 to....well, thousands! There were some absolutely beautiful boats though.....maybe one day.
Anyway, having resigned myself to having to buy second-hand off ebay - in some ways it made it easier, at least they would all be in one place so to speak - I thought I'd better start researching the types of kayak and try to establish what best suited my requirements - I won't go in to all that right now, my intention, as this blog builds, is to write a whole section on the different types, but that's for later - and so I spent days, yes days, researching through page after page of internet info - kayak this and kayak that. By the time a week passed, I was almost kayaked out!
The upshot is that I settled on a recreational kayak, one that was fairly short and easy to put on the roof of the land rover, one that was fairly wide and stable - I am after all a novice, one that would carry me along calm canals and lakes and possibly fairly tame rivers - I'm not at this stage hankering after white water or ocean-going trips and one that would be able to carry approximately 65 litres of camping equipment as well as me in safety. Having gone through hundreds of reviews and having taken account of page after page of experienced kayaker blurb, I settled on a sit on top version, something along the lines of an Ocean Kayak Frenzy or an Osprey OSX. I then spent weeks getting outbid on ebay and watching kayak after kayak slip through my fingers. Hmmmm.........the hunt for Red October was going to take longer than I thought.
In a way, this constant losing battle was a Godsend, it gave me an opportunity to cool off a bit and more time in which to take advice. I realised that a sit on top (a SOT) just wasn't for me - unless I got a tandem version, it was unlikely to be able to cope with me and all the camping equipment and if I wanted to use it all year round for trips up to a week long, which I did, then what I really needed was a sit in kayak (a SINK). I eventually settled for a boat like the Perception Sundance - it was perfect. The problem was, it was also out of my price range. Bugger.
But then, I happened on an article which mentioned the Sundance's predecessor, the Kiwi, which came in three different sizes, for 1, 2 and 3 people respectively. The Kiwi 1 looked like it was perfect and there was two up for grabs on ebay! This was the description and photo.....
I weighed the boat up and decided I was prepared to pay a maximum of £150. This was the result......
I was a kayak owner!!
